How the Snapchat Invasion-of-Privacy Case Has Played Out for the Victim

Nearly a year ago, former Playboy model Dani Mathers caused a massive outcry when she sent a photo of a nude woman in her gym locker room with the caption, “If I can’t unsee this then you can’t either,” along with a photo of herself looking disgusted. Her actions were also illegal, and police managed to track down the victim and charge Mathers with invasion of privacy. After she was sentenced to 30 days of community service and three years’ probation, Mathers gave an emotional interview in which she said, “I had my privacy taken away after I took someone else’s.” Los Angeles City Attorney Mike Feuer is not buying it.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, Feuer refutes Mathers’s prior claims that she attempted to reach out to the victim to apologize and says, “She is not the victim. She is the perpetrator.”

He shared that the 70-year-old victim found the experience profoundly “humiliating,” adding, “the impact of this incident is irreparable. And it causes harm that will reverberate on and on:”

When the outcome of this case was being reached, the topic of restitution came up, and she sought restitution of, like, $60. And people wanted to know afterwards, why? And the answer is, she had to buy a new backpack. Because the photograph depicted her in the shower, her backpack was hanging there, and it was a way people could identify her. She had to replace that with another backpack.

Feuer also promoted a new bill he sponsored which would institute a penalty of up to $1,000 for whoever distributes a photo that invades someone’s privacy in such a way.